Kyle Troup and Sam Cooley Advance to Kia PBA Playoffs Championship Match
Milford, Conn.—Top seed Kyle Troup and No. 11 seed Sam Cooley will face off for the 2021 Kia PBA Playoffs Championship tomorrow, live at 2 p.m. ET on FOX Broadcast Channel. Both players swept their opponents, 2-0, in a race-to-two-points format in which each game is worth one point. Troup defeated No. 4 seed François Lavoie and Cooley eliminated No. 15 seed Cristian Azcona.
Lavoie, who defeated Troup in the final match of the Guaranteed Rate PBA Super Slam in April, built an early lead in the first game with the front six, but an open in the ninth frame gave Troup a chance.
“I definitely wanted to get a little revenge on him,” said Troup of avenging his loss in the Super Slam. “When he gave me that chance in the first game, I had to commit to the ball change in the 10th. It worked out well and I felt very confident moving forward. It’s very nice knowing I have the Rubicon and the UC2 that work well every time we bowl on this pair. That gives me a lot of confidence.”
With the win over Lavoie, Troup will eclipse Walter Ray Williams Jr.’s single-season earnings record of $419,700, accomplished during the 2002-03 season. Troup currently sits at $369,200 this season and will add either $100,000 for a Kia PBA Playoffs win or $60,000 for a runner-up finish.
“I’m pretty speechless as far as that goes,” said Troup. “To beat another major champion in the round of four and then to beat a record holder, the greatest of all time, is an honor.”
Cooley, who eliminated Jesper Svensson in the Round of 16 and Tom Daugherty in the quarterfinals, both via tie-breaking roll-offs, didn’t need a roll-off in the semifinals, winning both games over Azcona. After a 264-243 win in game one, the lanes appeared to get tricky for both players in game two.
“In the third frame when I six-pinned, I hit up on it a little bit too much and it instantly hooked,” said Cooley. “I made a move the next time I got there and the ball never hooked. It never hit the strip where we’d broken it down. I moved back to where I was and threw it a little bit firmer.”
Cooley clinched his trip to the championship match with a strike in the 10th frame.
“I was able to get away with one the next time I was on the right lane,” said Cooley. “I tripped the 7-9 back, but then I pured it in the 10th to seal it. It’s a pretty good feeling going into tomorrow.”
Tomorrow, live on FOX at 2 p.m. ET, Troup will face Cooley in a best-of-five series to determine the 2021 Kia PBA Playoffs champion. If the players are tied after four games, a ninth-and-10th-frame roll-off will decide the winner. The champion will receive a PBA Tour title, $100,000 and an official WWE championship title belt.
Viewers can live stream the PBA on the FOX Sports and FOX NOW apps or at FOXSports.com. Select highlights will be available on @FOXSports social handles across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. International fans can watch live on FloBowling.com.
Round of 16 Results (Saturday, Apr. 24 on FS1)
Bowlero Milford, Milford, Conn.
No. 1 Kyle Troup def. No. 16 Andrew Anderson, 2-1
Game 1 – Troup def. Anderson, 234-233
Game 2 – Anderson def. Troup, 225-212
Roll-off – Troup def. Anderson, 58-26
No. 9 Thomas Larsen def. No. 8 Anthony Simonsen, 2-0
Game 1 – Larsen def. Simonsen, 244-238
Game 2 – Larsen def. Simonsen, 279-224
Round of 16 Results (Sunday, Apr. 25 on FS1)
No. 4 François Lavoie def. No. 13 Dick Allen, 2-1
Game 1 – Lavoie def. Allen, 266-185
Game 2 – Allen def. Lavoie, 258-238
Roll-off – Lavoie def. Allen, 59-50
No. 12 Bill O’Neill def. No. 5 Jakob Butturff, 2-1
Game 1 – Butturff def. O’Neill, 257-193
Game 2 – O’Neill def. Butturff, 227-222
Roll-off – O’Neill def. Butturff, 49-39
Round of 16 Results (Saturday, May 1 on FS1)
No. 15 Cristian Azcona def. No. 2 Chris Via, 2-0
Game 1 – Azcona def. Via, 258-226
Game 2 – Azcona def. Via, 238-215
No. 10 EJ Tackett def. No. 7 Kris Prather, 2-1
Game 1 – Tackett def. Prather, 267-170
Game 2 – Prather def. Tackett, 205-188
Roll-off – Tackett def. Prather, 38-26
Round of 16 (Sunday, May 2 on FS1)
No. 3 Tom Daugherty def. No. 14 Jason Sterner, 2-1
Game 1 – Daugherty def. Sterner, 245-204
Game 2 – Sterner def. Daugherty, 225-213
Roll-off – Daugherty def. Sterner, 39-39 (10-9)
No. 11 Sam Cooley def. No. 6 Jesper Svensson, 2-1
Game 1 – Svensson def. Cooley, 268-248
Game 2 – Cooley def. Svensson, 223-223 (9-9, 10-9)
Roll-off – Cooley def. Svensson, 35-16
Quarterfinals (Sunday, May 9 on FS1)
No. 1 Kyle Troup def. No. 9 Thomas Larsen, 2-0
Game 1 – Troup def. Larsen, 260-204
Game 2 – Troup def. Larsen, 239-199
No. 4 François Lavoie vs. No. 12 Bill O’Neill
Game 1 – O’Neill def. Lavoie, 190-182
Game 2 – Lavoie def. O’Neill, 217-188
Roll-off – Lavoie def. O’Neill, 46-40
Quarterfinals (Monday, May 10 on FS1)
No. 15 Cristian Azcona def. No. 10 EJ Tackett, 2-1
Game 1 – Tackett def. Azcona, 257-213
Game 2 – Azcona def. Tackett, 240-214
Roll-off – Azcona def. Tackett, 49-47
No. 11 Sam Cooley def. No. 3 Tom Daugherty
Game 1 – Daugherty def. Cooley, 226-209
Game 2 – Cooley def. Daugherty, 236-218
Roll-off – Cooley def. Daugherty, 37-26
Semifinals (Saturday, May 15 at 11 a.m. ET on FS1)
No. 1 Kyle Troup def. No. 4 François Lavoie, 2-0
Game 1 – Troup def. Lavoie, 248-237
Game 2 – Troup def. Lavoie, 259-224
No. 11 Sam Cooley def. No. 15 Cristian Azcona
Game 1 – Cooley def. Azcona, 264-243
Game 2 – Cooley def. Azcona, 232-219
Kia PBA Playoffs Championship (Sunday, May 16 at 2 p.m. ET on FOX)
No. 1 Kyle Troup vs. No. 11 Sam Cooley
About the PBA
The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is the world’s preeminent organization dedicated to the sport of bowling and its professional competition, with thousands of members and millions of fans throughout the world. The PBA plays host to bowling’s biggest tournaments from the PBA Tour, PBA Regional Tour, and PBA50 Tour. In 2020, the PBA launched PBA Jr., a club for elite youth bowlers under the age of 17 and the PBA Pinsiders, a membership for fans of the sport. For more information, please visit PBA.com.